Method of dam construction.



no; 740,590. v PATENTED'OCT. s, 1903.

M. 1). ROGHPORD. METHOD OF DAM GONSTRUGTION,

- APPLICATION FILED AUG. 15. 1802.

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PATENTED OCT. 6, 1903..

No. 740,590. I

M. 1). ROGHFORD. METHOD OF DAM GONST APPLICATION FILED AUG- 1 RUGTIUN'6,1902.

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the. 740,590. V UNITED STATES PATENT MARK D. ROOHFORD, OF -L( )SANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

.li/IETHOD OF DAM CONSTRUCTlON.

SPECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 740,590, dated Octobers, 1903.

Application filed August 15 1902i Serial No. 1l9,808. N model.)

' Ordinarily the amount of deposits is so great To all whom it mayconcern: v

Be it known that I, MARK D. ROCHFORD, a citizen of the United States,residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State ofCalifornia, have invented a new and useful Method of Dam Constructiomofwhich the following is a specification.

In so-called arid districts or semi-arid districts there are rivers orstreams which instead of being visible bodies of water flowing betweenbanks comprise valleys with com.- paratively impervious bottoms on whichare deposits of sand or pervious matter through which water percolatesor works its way down and along to lower parts in seeking its level. Thepresence of the water in such valleys may not be apparent except intimes of flood.

Another object is to provide a method whereby the dam may be constructedso that its bottom will conform to an irregular riverbottom and preventwater from working under the dam.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate one form of apparatuswhich may be used in carrying out my method, Figure I is a view showinga cross-section of a bed of a stream as before described. A part of theapparatus used is shown in elevation, and

the dam is shown as having been completed across about half the stream.Fig. II is a side elevation of part of the apparatus. Fig.

III is a front elevation of part of the appara- Fig. IV is an end viewof casings which tus. may be used in carrying out my method. Fig. V is aview illustrating the manner in which a casing may be removed. Fig. VIis.

a view showing a step in the method.

In carrying out my method Lsink a casing vertically through the sand andwater forming the body portion of the stream, remove the sand or earthfrom within the casing, and then place within the casin g a mass ofimpervious material. I repeat this operation next to the first casing,and after the second casing is filled I pull up the first casing andcontinue on across the stream, pulling up the casings as I proceed, but,always leaving one casing to work against, which leaves a solid wall ofimpervious material, which extends across the stream, the bottom of theimpervious material being in close contact with the bottom of the streamand conforming to every irregularity in the bottom of the stream.

The casings which are sunk may be of a suitable size and shape, so thatthey will with-' stand the external pressure of the sand and Water whenthe material from within the easing isremoved. I preferably employ acasing which is rectangular in cross-section,although in some cases itmay be found preferable to employ a casing which is arched incross-section or a casing which is substantially cylindrical in form.

A convenient way for'sinking the casing into the. stream is 'to force itdown by hydraulic means. Fig. II shows a side elevation of anarrangement which is adapted for sinking a casing in that manner, inwhich 1 isa derrick having a tank 2 on the top thereof. 8 is a casingwhich is being forced in.

In the drawings I have shown and described a casing which issubstantially rectangular in cross-section, although, as stated, undersome conditions casings of other shapes may be found to be betteradapted for the purpose.

of the casing 3 through the medium of a plank 5, which is attached bysuitable connections 6 to oppositely-arranged hydraulic jacks 7. Thehydraulic jacks may be anchored, as at 8. Water may be forced intothe-hydraulic to allow of doing so.

jacks from a pump 9 through pipes 10. The driving down of the casing isfacilitated by loosening up the sand and earth at the bottom of-theinterior of the casing, and this may be accomplished by forcing -waterthrough pipes 11. One of these pipes may lie in each corner of the.first casing and extend along the entire length of the casing, while theupper end of the pipes maybe connected by means of hose 12 with the tank2. The other casings may have only two of the pipes 11. \Vaterfiows fromthe tank 2 through the pipes 11 and out at the bottom of the easing andstirs up the sand at the bottom, and as water is constantly beingsupplied through the pipes the sand is forced up to the top of the bedand flows over the uppermost plate 4 onto the surface of the bed of thestream. The process of loosening the sand is further facilitated byemploying a flexible pipe 13, which may extend. to the bottom of thecasing and be carried over the top of the uppermost plate and beconnected with a suitable pump 14:. The water from the pump 14f isdischarged through the pipe 13 at the center of the bottom of the casingand further as sists in the mixing up of the sand at the bottom of thecasing and forcing the same out through the casing and onto the surfaceof the stream. As the first casing is gradually sunk more plates 4 aresecured, and the water is continually forcing the sand at the bot-- tomof the casing to the top and over'the uppermost plate onto the top ofthe bed of the stream. As the casing is forced down the pipe 13 islowered accordingly, so that. its lower end will be kept near the bottomof the casing, the pipe 13 being of a length sufficient. When the casingis sunk so that the bottom of the casing rests upon the imperviousmaterial under the sand which forms the bottom of the bed of the:

stream, as shown in Fig. I, the downward progress of the casing isarrested; but water is still pumped into the casing, and in a short timeall of the sand or earth within the casing is removed and replaced bywater, so that.

nothing remains within the casing but water. The pipe 13 may then bedrawn out and the interior of the casing filled with an imperviousmaterialsuch, for instance, as clay oradobe. Aconvenient material insome localities would be adobe. After the casing has been entirelyfilled with the adobe to a suitable height or to the height desired forthe dam another casing may be placed in position and driven down in asimilar manner next to the first casing and the sand or earth within thesecond casing removed in a similar manner and the casing then filledwith impervious material, and after the second casing is filled thefirst casing may be pulled out and used again and sunk next to thesecond casing, and so on across the bed of the stream until the dam hasbeen completed. I prefer, however, to leave the first casing in positionand start in the middle of the stream and work from both sides of thefirst casing toward the banks.

The casings may be pulled out, as shown in Fig. V, by passing cableswhich are attached to the hydraulic jacks over-sheaves 15, carried bythe derrick, the ends of the cables being attached to the top of thesunken casin g. It will be seen that the clay oradobe will form acompact mass in the casing and being somewhat soft and plastic willconform to the irregular hard bottom of the stream, and a wall thusconstructed will forman effective dam.

After removing a casing there may be a slight space formed between theadjacent columns of clay or adobe caused by the thickness of the wallofthe casing; but the casing may be pulled up slowly, and the plasticmaterial will close up the gap between the columns as fast as the casingis pulled up.

In order to insure that the columns will closely adhere and becomemerged, the pipe 13 may be left in position until the imperviousmaterial has been placed within the easing, and while the casing isbeing removed plastic material-such, for instance,as mud may be forcedthrough the pipe 13 and into the interior of the impervious mass, whichwill spread the mass and force it tightly against the adjacent column ofimpervious material, and after the casing has been removed the pipe 13may be removed.

It may be desirable sometimes to employ a metallic or rigid pipe inplace of thevfiexible pipe 13, the water being conducted to the top ofthe metallic pipe through a suitable hose from the pump 14, and afterthe casing is sunk the metallic pipe may be left in position, and theclay or adobe may be placed around the pipe, and the pipe may be leftpermanently in the center of the column, so that if a small crevasseshould occur between the adjacent columns or in the event of a leakageoccurring between the columns or underneath the columns a plasticmaterial maybe forced through the pipe, which would tend to spread thecolumn of clay or adobe, and thus close the crevasse.

It is advantageous to provide the casings with lugs 16, which afiord ameans for engaging the inturned edges of the casings, as shown in Fig.IV, and serve to guide the casing being driven.

The apparatus which I have shown and described for carrying out mymethod is one which is well adapted for the purpose, al though, as Ihave stated, the conditions under which the construction of the wall isto be performed will largely determine the specific details required incarrying out the method.

In cases where concrete or cement is used as the impervious material inplace of the adobe or clay the first casing may be removed after thesecond casin g has been driven down, and while the first casing is beingremoved the second casing may be filled with the concrete as fast as thefirst casing rises, so that the concrete which is being placed in thesecond casing will unite with the first mass or column of concrete. Bythis method there will be no gap formed between the adjacent columns, asthere is no casing-wall to separate the columns. I

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent of the United States, is-- a 1. The method of damconstruction consisting in forcinga easing into the bed of astream,forcing another casing into the bed alongside the first casing, removingthe sand-or earth from within the casings, placing impervious materialwithin the casings, and pulling up the casings.

2. The method of dam construction consisting of forcing casings into thebed ofa stream in consecutive order, removing the sand or earth fromwithin the casings, placing impervious material Within the casings andwithdrawing the casings.

3. The method of dam construction consisting in forcing a easing intothe bed of a stream, removing the sand or earth from within the casing,placing impervious material within the casing, forcing a second easinginto its bed alongside of the first casing, removing the sand or earthfrom within the casing, placing impervious material within the casing,forcing a third easing into the bed alongside the second casing,removing the sand-or earth from within the casing, continuing the stepsspecified the required distance, pulling out the casings as the workproceeds but leaving the last casing in until the new casing is sunk,and so on, so that each new casing is guided by the preceding sunkencasing.

4. The method of dam construction consisting in forcing casings into thebed of a stream in consecutive order and as each casing is put insimultaneously forcing water into the interior of the casing anddislodging and removingthe earth from within the casing, andsubsequently filling the casings with impervious material, andultimately withdrawing the easings. p 7

5. The method of dam construction consisting inforcing casings into thebed of a stream one after another, and as each casing is sunksimultaneously directing a stream of water approximately through thecenter of the casing and also directing streams of water along the wallsofthe casing and removing the earth from within the casing, subsequentlyfilling the casing with impervious material and ultimately withdrawingthe casings.

6. The method of dam construction consist ing of forcing a casingintothe bed of astream,

removing the sand or earth from within the casing, placing a pipe'in thecenter of thecasing, placing impervious material within thecasing-externally of the pipe, then withdrawing the casing, thengradually withdrawing the pipe and simultaneously forcing through thepipe a plastic material and spreading the impervious mass.

In witness whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses, at Los Angeles, in the county ofLos Angeles and State of California, this 9th day of August, 1902.

MARK D. ROGHFORD.

Witnesses G. T. HAOKLEY, JAMES R. TOWNSEND.

